


i can't let go (of what's holding onto me)

by firefall



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cats, Childhood Friends, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse, not very many zombies for a zombie au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-25 00:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1622519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefall/pseuds/firefall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's all Zayn has left and he <i>knows</i> he's not supposed to go off on his own.  But Harry's never been that good at following rules.</p><p>Zombie AU of the Zarry variety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i can't let go (of what's holding onto me)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Times Are Changing" by Mosquito Fleet
> 
> I don't anyone portrayed in this fic. This never happened and zombies aren't real, either.

Zayn and Harry had been friends since primary school, long before the disease had taken control of the world.  Now, almost fifteen years later, their families were gone and all they had was each other and an old, rundown farmhouse out in the English countryside.  And rusty hoes...they had loads and loads of rusty hoes – perfect for zombie-slaying.  

For the most part, the undead stuck to the cities – more people = more food – but it didn't mean the boys were completely safe out here.  Every so often they’d find a straggler tramping through their fields and have to knock its head off and once they'd even had to fight off a small army that had managed to break into their barn, but they weren't constantly fighting for their lives out here.  They couldn't relax per se, but it wasn't impossible to fall asleep at night either.

Despite their relative safety, there were still rules set in place.  Rules about fighting procedure, rules about finding food, and, most importantly, rules about staying in sight.  Namely, to always.

This is why when Zayn woke up to find Harry's bed empty, little fingers of panic started to tighten around his neck.  He waited for a while, laying quietly in his bed and figuring the younger boy had stepped out to go for a wee.  But when fifteen minutes had passed, Zayn couldn't take it anymore.  He leaped out of bed, muttering under his breath words that sounded suspiciously like "that stupid, curly-headed idiot," and went to go find the only piece of family he had left.

A quick once-over revealed that Harry was nowhere in the tiny farmhouse, so Zayn shrugged into his ratty sweatshirt and ran out into the muddy front yard.  "Haz!" he yelled, trying to keep calm even though the yard was completely empty – not a single set of unruly brown curls were to be seen.  He raced around back, thanking Anyone who was listening that it was too early in the season for the corn to be much higher than his knees, so he could see for what felt like miles.  And still, no Harry.

"Come on, you idiot!" he shouted into the wind, his hands starting to shake with barely-concealed panic.  Harry was going to be bitten and Zayn was going to have to kill him and then everyone he ever cared about would be gone.  Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought and he quickly blinked them away, annoyed at the way they impeded his vision.  

"Harry!" he shouted again, making a decision and racing toward the grove of trees on the edge of their corn field, squishing baby plants underneath his feet without even caring.  It was a long run and, though Zayn had been forced to give up smoking nearly a year ago, his lungs still burned, protesting the sudden onslaught of abuse.  Just as he was about to choke out another desperate _Haz!_ he heard a small voice call from the middle of the grove, "Zayn?  Can you help me, please?"

Letting out a wet sigh of relief, Zayn fairly hurtled himself the last hundred yards or so, finally locating Harry's bright red sweater up the giant oak tree, partially hidden by the leaves.  "What are you _doing_?" Zayn cried, his terror now replaced by anger as he stood at the base of the tree, peering up at the younger boy who was crouched among the branches, hanging onto the trunk for dear life.

Though clearly distressed, Harry at least had the grace to look sheepish when he answered, "I heard this poor girl crying up here, so I climbed up to help her...then I kinda got stuck, too."

For the first time, Zayn noticed the small cat clinging to Harry's sweater, digging her claws in and probably scratching up his skin.  Zayn was not above thinking a very immature _good_.  His heart still beating a hundred miles a minute, Zayn threw his hands in the air and cried, "Well, what do you want _me_ to do?  I'm scared of heights...I don't climb trees, stupid!  You know that about me!"

"I know, I know," Harry protested, shifting a little and letting out a quiet whimper as the branch dipped beneath him, much too thin to be holding his weight.  

Rolling his eyes, Zayn let out a little sigh and said, "Okay, if you let the cat sit in your sweater hood and then grab the branch above you, you can hang down and I'll probably be able to catch you.  Or at least break your fall."

Without even questioning it – because, really, when did Harry ever question his friends – Harry did as Zayn said, tucking the cat in and letting himself dangle towards the earth, a single involuntary shriek tearing from between his lips.  "I got you, babe," Zayn assured him, bracing himself as the younger boy finally let himself drop, crashing into Zayn's chest and sending them both sprawling across the muddy ground.

Before either boy could make a sound, the cat let out an agitated hiss and ran off into the woods, leaving them behind without so much as a thank you for their troubles.  "Wait! Don't go!" Harry called after her and his voice sounded so sad that Zayn didn't have the heart to yell at him anymore, despite the pain in his shoulders and the mud caked to the back of his sleep pants.  Instead he broke into laughter, all the excess panic and fear bubbling up and falling out of his mouth.  

"What?" Harry asked, a smile pulling across his face as he pushed painfully to his feet.  "What's so funny?"

"You!" Zayn cried, unable to stop the giggles. "You're ridiculous!  I thought you were _dead_...I thought a zombie was going to get you, and there you are...up a _tree_! With a _cat_!"

Harry finally joined in, laughing along as they trooped back to the farmhouse.  "Someday, when this is all over," the younger boy rasped between breathless giggles, "we're gonna write a book about our experiences and we're gonna be famous!"

Zayn just scoffed. "Us... _famous_?  Yeah, right.  Never in a million years."


End file.
